At the Courthouse Square

A Frankfort consultant and Democratic donor has been charged with bribing former Personnel Cabinet Secretary and Deputy Attorney General Tim Longmeyer to steer state business to clients.
James Sullivan was indicted Wednesday on charges of bribery and conspiracy.
Sullivan, who could not be reached for comment, is accused of paying Longmeyer between Aug. 31, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2015, to land one of his clients a contract to administer the Kentucky Workers Compensation Program and on March 22, 2016, to secure... Read more

Holly Harris, a veteran of Frankfort and Washington, D.C., politics, was arrested on Wednesday in Lexington under suspicion of driving under the influence.
Harris reportedly struck a parked vehicle at low speed on Wednesday night at the corner of Alexandria Drive and Cambridge Drive in Lexington, according to a collision report. Lexington police were flagged to the scene of the incident where a spokesperson says Harris was still in the driver’s seat of a Toyota RAV4.
A Lexington police officer... Read more

BURLINGTON – Two northern Kentucky fiscal courts have decided to join the war on opioids by filing two separate suits against wholesale drug distributors.
Boone County and Kenton County commissioners voted on Tuesday night to sue the country’s three largest distributors: AmericanSource Bergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson Corporation, who they believe have contributed to the opioid epidemic in the area.
Those three companies have combined annual revenues of $400 billion and control more than 80 percent of the prescription opioid market.
Boone County... Read more

The Louisville Commission on Public Art (COPA) will meet next month to review and begin discussing public art and monuments that could be interpreted as honoring bigotry, racism and/or slavery.
The commission will meet on September 6 from 4-7 p.m. at the Old Jail Auditorium (514 W. Liberty) to review and to discuss public art that it believes merits further discussion and analysis, according to a news release. The public will have an opportunity to speak during a portion of the... Read more

FRANKFORT – Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration and Attorney General Andy Beshear appeared before the Kentucky Supreme Court for the second time since they took office on Friday, arguing on whether Bevin had the authority to reorganize the University of Louisville’s board of trustees last year.
A lower court ruled in September that Bevin overstepped his power in abolishing and reconstituting the U of L board after Beshear sued, and the General Assembly passed a pair of bills in this year’s legislative... Read more

Following a unanimous vote by the Lexington City Council on Thursday to relocate two Confederate statues from downtown Lexington, Mayor Jim Gray released the following statement:
“By relocating these statues we are not destroying, hiding or sanitizing history. We are honoring and learning our history through this relocation.
I’m proud of our council and proud of our city. Thank you to everyone who worked to do the right thing.
There’s still work to do and we will set about doing it.”
The mayor’s... Read more

LEXINGTON — Lexington Mayor Jim Gray say law enforcement is prepared for violence should any incidents arise surrounding the proposed relocation of two Confederate-era statues from the grounds at the former Fayette County Court House on Main Street.
Comments from Gray, D-Lexington, come the same day that the Lexington Herald Leader is reporting white nationalists plan on holding a rally in the city.
“Ours is a caring and giving and compassionate city,” Gray said in an interview with Pure Politics on... Read more

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is directing the Louisville Commission on Public Art to review its catalogue of public art and make a list of any and all pieces that could be interpreted to honor bigotry, racism and/or slavery.
In a press release Fischer said that this review is to prepare for a community conversation about the public display of such art.
“I recognize that some people say all these monuments should be left alone, because they are part of our... Read more

UPDATED: Officials in Charlottesville, Virginia are reporting that one person is dead and 19 are injured after a car drove through a crowd of counterprotestors where white supremacists and other alt-right groups were scheduled to take place.
President Trump condemned the violence in comments from Bedminster, New Jersey.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” Trump said.
Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes singled out Trump’s statement on... Read more

The Kentucky Supreme Court has unanimously approved the first open-records policy for the Administrative Office of the Courts’ administrative records effective Tuesday, the AOC announced in a news release Friday.
The policy requires the AOC to respond to information requests within three days and exempts a number of records, such as legal research, communications that do not constitute final actions or formal policies, records that would reveal security details or vulnerabilities, and examination materials. Requestors denied access to records can appeal... Read more